Sampling Variance

Sampling variance is the variance of the sampling distribution for a random variable. It measures the spread or variability of the sample estimate about its expected value in hypothetical repetitions of the sample. Sampling variance is one of the two components of sampling error associated with any sample survey that does not cover the entire population of interest. The other component of sampling error is coverage bias due to systematic nonobservation. The totality of sampling errors in all possible samples of the same size generates the sampling distribution for a given variable. Sampling variance arises because only a sample rather than the entire population is observed. The particular sample selected is one of a large number of possible samples of the same size that could ...